Der Ballsaal des Weißen Hauses wird niemals gebaut

„In October, [Donald Trump](https://www.salon.com/topic/donald-trump) traumatized all true patriots by [tearing down](https://www.salon.com/2025/10/22/never-thought-of-as-much-trump-downplays-demolition-of-white-houses-east-wing/) the East Wing of the White House. The move, he claims, will clear the way for a ballroom for holding large events that are typically held in tents on the South Lawn. A debate immediately arose online over whether or not the next Democratic president [should tear down the ballroom](https://www.thebulwark.com/p/no-kings-and-the-laws-of-power) or keep it, albeit with the necessary extensive renovations to remove all the tackiness Trump brings to any project.“

„Two months later, it increasingly seems that such discussion was a wasted effort, as the chance this ballroom will actually be built is rapidly disappearing. Perhaps it could have if Trump had delegated the management of the project to someone competent, but that’s not what he did. Instead, the famously lazy and disorganized president decided to blow off his actual governance duties in favor of micromanaging a construction project he is incapable of handling. Finishing the ballroom in the next three years would be difficult for anyone, but it’s quickly becoming clear it will be nearly impossible for the famed real estate tycoon to pull it off.“

„The whole thing is a too-perfect symbol of Trump’s second administration: They are very good at breaking things, but they don’t know how to create anything of value.“

„On Tuesday, the Washington Post [published an update](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/16/white-house-ballroom-lawsuit-plans/) on the project, and the overall takeaway is that no one seems to know what’s going on. There’s no final design and no specifics about location. There’s not even an agreement on whether it will seat 650 or 1,000 people or more, since those details seem to depend on Trump’s mood.“

„…the 79-year-old president has lost whatever limited capacity he may have once possessed to make good on stated goals — or at least those that involve building or creating, instead of simply blowing things up.“

„…that’s always how Trump has operated: pretending to be successful by making glittering claims at high decibel levels, all the while hoping his marks won’t notice he’s conning them until it’s too late. The strategy has worked with depressing frequency, including securing him two presidential wins. So it’s not a surprise he thinks that telling huge lies with maximum lung capacity will overpower people’s ability to remember what gas prices actually are. But polls suggest his lies aren’t working as well any more, and there’s no reason that they’ll be more persuasive because he’s yelling.“

„But in true Trump style, even existential yearnings are no match for his inherent laziness. While talking up the ballroom project, his actual renovations of the White House have only been destructive, like demolishing the East Wing. Others are so flimsy and gaudy that they will be gone by the end of the first day of the next president. On top of the cheap-looking “gold” decorations that keep piling up in the Oval Office and the tacky [Motel 6-level signs](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/05/trump-oval-office-sign), Trump [installed a “presidential walk of fame”](https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/17/politics/presidential-walk-of-fame-plaques-trump) along the West Wing portico. It’s trash, of course: Pictures of presidents — both good and bad, but all more worthy of the title than Trump.“ 

„This attempt by Trump to leave his mark is destined for the trash heap, probably before 3 p.m. on Jan. 20, 2029. He’s [restarted weak efforts](https://www.salon.com/2025/12/18/white-house-says-us-would-be-lucky-to-have-trump-stay-in-office-after-current-term/) to pretend he’ll just take an illegal third term, but his apparent poor health and exhaustion leaves most wondering if he’ll be able to make it through the second. He can attempt to force the Kennedy Center to be [renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center](https://apnews.com/article/trump-kennedy-center-performing-arts-8b7159067174f3a0070b877c149ff0a7), as he announced Thursday, following his tradition of slapping his name on stuff other people built. But that surface level shift will almost certainly be turned back before Trump’s belongings are moved out of his White House bedroom.“

„It seems to be dawning on him that even many of his voters [can’t wait to start forgetting](https://www.salon.com/2025/12/17/republicans-are-quiet-quitting-on-trump/) Trump ever existed. Efforts to force a lasting legacy are maddening, but ultimately, they will fail. Trump will be felled by the worthlessness he’s spent a lifetime trying to conceal with cheap parlor tricks, because he’s incapable of making a true, lasting contribution.“

You mean he’s not gonna follow through with what he said?

That can’t be!

Right, because he’s going to steal every single dollar in sight for himself. 

I think it’s appropriate that the most lasting monument to Trump’s presidency will be a giant hole in the ground where part of the White House once stood.

Hope you are right. What a waste of money and time.

Good. The country doesn’t need a taxpayer-funded dance hall. We need infrastructure, not chandeliers

lol is the White House now like one of those trash houses with a big ass hole in it covered by a plastic tarp?

Of course it’s just a grift

Make him pay for the repairs, not his ‘friends’

It’s all a metaphor for his presidency. The Whitehouse represents American democracy, hegemony, and wealth.

He’s gonna break ground on his own monument next.

That’s ok. Maybe next he’ll demolish the Lincoln or Washington memorial to put up his arch. But then not actually do that, either.

Pretty on the nose for Trump to have literally created a giant hole into the White House into which he can pour public money.

He and his supporters can try all they want to make a lasting impression but his attempts at being remembered as some kind of amazing president and hero will fail… his policies reversed… his name and golden emblems removed… and his ballroom if ever built torn down.

Ultimately history will reveal the truth – the harder he and his followers and administration try to force their will the harder the reversal will be. There will be a reckoning coming and Trump can’t outrun his own mortality like everything else either.

And the East Wing should remain demolished as a permanent reminder of blatant government corruption allowed free reign by complacent non-voters.

Trumps history is a litany of announced but never built projects. Thats why people think he’s a successful businessman – he has worked his entire life not to be successful, but worked at appearing successful.

I wasn’t thrilled about the ballroom. But whatever, maybe I’ll get over it. And now they tore down the East Wing for nothing? Awesome.

Headline for 2029: Can President Ocasio-Cortez finally bring the massively over time and budget White House construction to a close or are Democrats simply ineffectual?

I can’t help but see everything he does as a way of self enrichment. He did this when he wasn’t president. Just the same hits, getting played again.

Just a large tarp draped over the failed building works

But someone spent 1 minute making that AI ballroom picture – all that planning going to waste?

That’s probably more true than not

The guy is a complete shit stain. Wish he’d croak already.

It will be Bidens fault somehow, mark it.

We brought this national nightmare onto ourselves by letting this goo bag become president again. Fuck all those who abstained from voting for Kamala.